Is the Android brand fading away?

HTC, which has been struggling to regain a foothold in the smartphone market, on Tuesday announced what appears to be a very impressive device: A new version of its flagship HTC One, with a sleek new hardware design and a revamped home screen.

There was a word missing from HTC’s unveiling of its impressive new HTC One phone. HTC executives talked about the BlinkFeed streaming home screen, the redone Sense user interface, the BoomSound audio system, and the Zoe photo-plus-video app. But there was no mention of the phone’s Android software. Even on the One’s web page, you have to drill down to specs to learn that it runs Android.

The original idea behind Android was an open mobile operating system that hardware makers could use for free and mold to their needs – and that’s exactly what they’ve done. Android smartphones and tablets often have some kind of shell atop the stock interface, along with a series of custom applications, that give the device its own personality.

In addition, manufacturers may tweak the very core of Android itself. Menus may have a different look and feel, for example, in an attempt to improve upon the user experience. In fact, about the only devices that don’t have some kind of changes are Google’s own Nexus products. Techies love them, but the masses are snapping up the big-brand Android phones, and are seeing less and less of Android as a result.

HTC calls its interface design Sense, and this latest iteration on the HTC One is called New Sense (which, of course, is predictably being mocked online as “Nuisance”). While HTC bragged with last year’s One model that it had dialed back the changes in Sense, the company has gone in the opposite direction this time around. New Sense is a radical overhaul that turns the lock screen into an information display that is being likened to Flipboard.

Sense’s general design also has changed so that it’s “flatter”, looking a little like Microsoft’s new interface for Windows 8. Even HTC’s trademark flip clock is gone, replaced by sleek, sans serif numbers.

Under all this is Android 4.1.2 – yes, it’s yet another flagship smartphone not running the very latest release of Android, which is 4.2. That HTC has chosen to not put Android front and center, instead marketing its own innovations, may be worrisome to Android purists and certainly to Google’s marketing department, but it’s not necessarily new.

As Wildstrom points out in his piece, Android takes a back seat to the Galaxy S brand from Samsung as well. And Amazon.com’s Kindle Fire line of tablets run a reworked version of Android, something that’s not prominent in the online retailer’s marketing.

To a certain extent, this mirrors what happened in the earliest days of the PC, when hardware vendors like Compaq and Packard Bell tried to make up for the deficiencies of Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 with shells. Eventually, Windows matured to the point that its interface didn’t require a facelift, and there was more to gain from experience consistency than differentiation. But the reworked PCs always emphasized in their marketing that these were Windows devices, a fact that had to do with licensing. Windows was not free and had more restrictions and requirements than Android does.

The big question for HTC is whether customers will become excited about its vision for how a mobile device should work, which is very different from most Android phones. The Verge has a good piece explaining how HTC’s new interface behaves.

Over time, my feelings about Android interface customization have changed. Originally, I preferred the stock Android interface, but these days I like what both HTC and Samsung have done. The downside, however, is that these changes make it more difficult for handset makers to release Android OS updates for their phones. If you buy into one of these devices, you’re likely buying into the included version of Android for the long haul.

I suspect you’re going see more and more of what HTC is doing. Android will likely fade into the background, as it’s done for Amazon’s tablets, and the handset maker’s marketing will rule. You may think that’s a shame, but it’s a natural evolution for a mass-market OS that’s free and allows developers to tweak at will.

If you’re using something other than a Nexus smartphone or tablet, how do you like the interface supplied by the handset maker? Do you long for something simpler, or do you appreciate what the vendor brings to the table? Let us know in the comments.